CH 101

“Someone’s here.”

I heard a knock on the door.

Someone had come to visit.

Aria’s body stiffens, hearing the knocking.

She’s still in a bad shape.

I stood up and went towards the door.

“Ah, I will-“

“It’s fine. You can’t go out in that state, right?”

Milia’s clothes had gotten dirty from Aria’s tears.

She couldn’t meet someone in that condition.

Those clothes seemed expensive though, was it alright?

“Ah! Sorry, Milia.”

Aria just realized that she had dirtied Milia’s clothes.

She gets away from her in a hurry.

However, Milia exerted her own strength and held Aria tightly to not let her escape.

“It’s alright. Don’t worry about that. I apologize, but can I leave it to Lain? I believe it’s one of the butlers who came with the documents.”

“Documents? Ah sure. I’ll take them.”

What sort of documents?

I suppose I should just take them for now.

I stepped outside the room.

Outside the room, stood the butler who guided us here in the first place.

“Sorry, Milia had stained her clothes.”

“(Busy since the morning)…I see.”

His expression distorted for a moment.

It returned to normal just as soon, so it might have been my imagination.

“These will be the requested documents.”

“Thank you very much.”

The butler handed the papers over to me.

It was quite the thick bunch.

I wasn’t sure whether I should look inside, so I simply accepted them.

“Please call me if you need anything else. The room close to this one is the guest-room, which no one uses, so please feel free to use it.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

The butler bowed his head and departed.

The rooms nearby must’ve been emptied because of Aria.

I can’t be more grateful to Margravine-sama.

“Someone’s here.”

I heard a knock on the door.

Someone had come to visit.

Aria’s body stiffens, hearing the knocking.

She’s still in a bad shape.

I stood up and went towards the door.

“Ah, I will-“

“It’s fine. You can’t go out in that state, right?”

Milia’s clothes had gotten dirty from Aria’s tears.

She couldn’t meet someone in that condition.

Those clothes seemed expensive though, was it alright?

“Ah! Sorry, Milia.”

Aria just realized that she had dirtied Milia’s clothes.

She gets away from her in a hurry.

However, Milia exerted her own strength and held Aria tightly to not let her escape.

“It’s alright. Don’t worry about that. I apologize, but can I leave it to Lain? I believe it’s one of the butlers who came with the documents.”

“Documents? Ah sure. I’ll take them.”

What sort of documents?

I suppose I should just take them for now.

I stepped outside the room.

Outside the room, stood the butler who guided us here in the first place.

“Sorry, Milia had stained her clothes.”

“(Busy since the morning)…I see.”

His expression distorted for a moment.

It returned to normal just as soon, so it might have been my imagination.

“These will be the requested documents.”

“Thank you very much.”

The butler handed the papers over to me.

It was quite the thick bunch.

I wasn’t sure whether I should look inside, so I simply accepted them.

“Please call me if you need anything else. The room close to this one is the guest-room, which no one uses, so please feel free to use it.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

The butler bowed his head and departed.

The rooms nearby must’ve been emptied because of Aria.

I can’t raise my head to Margravine-sama.

While thinking so, I returned to the room.

“I was handed a pretty thick bunch of papers, but what are they?”

As I came back and handed the documents to Milia, she briefly started flipping through them.

It was full of writing and seemed difficult to read.

“They’re documents on the village. Since Aria became Margravine-sama’s adopted daughter, our association with the outside world would increase, so I requested for these.”

“Eeh?”

Aria opened her eyes wide.

Even her tears stopped flowing out of surprise.

Now that she said it, wasn’t Aria sleeping while we talked about her adoption?

“That’s how it seems to be.”

“Eh? Wait? What’s how it seems to be?”

Aria looked at both me and Milia, desperate for an answer.

Even if she asks me though, I can’t give her a satisfactory one.

“I believe Aria is tired right now, so I will explain the details once we get home. Your participation in the tournament has been withdrawn, so rest for now, and we’ll depart in the evening.”

“Eh? Already?”

I was also surprised.

Was there really a need to leave this early?

“Yes. There was also a dispute with Flemia house, so it’s better if we left early.”

I’d completely forgotten, but there was also a dispute with Aria’s original house.

They were in the wrong here, but just because we weren’t, doesn’t mean there won’t be any resentment.

In order to avoid that, it’s important that we left as early as possible.

“I will go to the market to buy the things we need for the trip, so can Aria and Lain prepare for departure?”

“Got it.”

“Eh? I…”

I covered Aria’s mouth.

This wasn’t the time to argue.

Aria was rampaging around in my arms, but I needed her to accept it.

“W-we’ll both get ready, so please handle the shopping side, Milia.”

“I leave it to you. I’ll go change now.”

Leaving us with that, Milia exits the room.

I could almost feel the excitement from her back.

“…Fuu.”

“W-what’s wrong? We can go to the market together right?”

Aria asked curiously.

I’m glad she returned to the Aria from a while ago.

However, I could see a tint of anxiety in those eyes again.

She probably thinks she made some kind of mistake.

But that wasn’t it.

I replied while smiling bitterly.

“Actually, Milia was really looking forward to seeing the market. Apparently, she was shocked at the fact that the bracelet didn’t sell. She said she wanted to investigate.”

“Eh? Huh? Why?”

Before the butler came to our village, Sieg-san and Milia had discussed a lot regarding trade.

When she tried to sell her bracelet, it didn’t sell for the price she hoped for.

She got quite depressed about it.

“After all, it could become a military supply. It would be better if it weren’t mass-produced, since its effect was too strong.”

“Aah~”

To be precise, the price itself was higher than expected and the entire stock got sold.

However, a magic power raising item would end up becoming a military supply, so it couldn’t be sold out in the open.

It was pretty obvious once you think about it.

Magic in this world is equivalent to attack magic.

An item that increases its effect is essentially an item that increases attack power.

In Japan’s terms, those bracelets are like a laser scope that increases the accuracy of a gun or gunpowder that increases the strength of a bomb.

“That’s why, she’s surveying the market to search for the next hit-product. Us going with her would just be a burden. You know how Milia is, right?”

“It’s better if we don’t go together.”

Aria laid down on the bed, satisfied.

She herself hadn’t taken any damage, but she should have seen what became of the sisters, Reno & Kili, who got involved with the rampaging Milia.

Aria’s condition was also a concern.

I’m sure that’s also a part of why she wanted to go alone.

This is our current situation.

She’ll buy the bare necessities, take a quick look around, then come home.

…I think it’ll be fine.

Even though I felt uneasy, I stood up and started making preparations to head home.